Birmingham City have appointed ex-Leeds boss Garry Monk as their new manager.
New Birmingham City manager Garry Monk has told The Guardian that he feels the club is somewhat similar to when he took over as Leeds United boss back in the summer of 2016.
After Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Nottingham Forest, Birmingham decided to sack manager Steve Cotterill following a run of five league defeats in a row, leaving the Blues staring a relegation to League One.
A swift decision has been made on Cotterill’s replacement, as Birmingham confirmed the appointment of Garry Monk on Monday, handing him a three-and-a-half-year deal at St. Andrews.
Monk, 39, has been out of work since losing his job as Middlesbrough boss back in December, losing his job after just six months at the Riverside Stadium following some disappointing results.
The former Swansea boss is now back in the game, and he may well call on his experiences with Leeds United to help him kickstart Birmingham’s push for Championship survival.
Monk took charge of Leeds in the summer of 2016, and help stabilise the club after a host of managerial sackings, taking the club to the fringes of the play-off places before leaving upon Andrea Rarizzani’s takeover of the club.
Monk’s career hasn’t quite gone to plan since then, but he has told The Guardian that he believes he can call upon his Leeds experiences to help turn another struggling big club around, suggesting the two situations are similar.
Monk added that it is ‘great’ to be reunited with his former Leeds assistant Pep Clotet at St. Andrews, claiming he will bring great experience and is a very good coach, which will shine through with Birmingham players.
“I had a good experience at Leeds recently, with the same situation; taking a fractured club that is very disconnected across all the boards,” said Monk. “We managed to pull it into a situation where everything was connected, the fans were right behind the team and there was a connection between the terraces and the team and the team and the terraces. I’ve seen at big clubs, when the terraces are connected with the club, it can be ferocious for away teams.”
“It is great to be back with Pep. He brings a wealth of experience, he’s a very good coach and he will bring that to these players,” he added.
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